Watering the Grassroots of the Labour Movement
The success of a political movement is entirely dependent on the passion and willingness of its ordinary members.
In fact, it's the grassroots mass-membership that allowed post-war Labour movements to establish social democracies across northern Europe.
Specifically in British history, the Attlee government could never have taken power in 1945 had it not been for the doorstep campaigning in every single constituency across Britain.
And I'd argue the successes experienced in each of the individual Constituency Labour Parties (CLP) was not down to Attlee or the Labour NEC, but the passions of individual organizers and volunteers.
These local volunteers weren't getting paid, they were investing their own time in a movement they believed in.
Today, the number of Labour activists on the streets is much lower - can there be any other explanation other than that people have simply lost faith in the party's cause? This is why I think the next real electoral victory for Labour will come from a change in mindset within the party.
Labour needs to think of itself as much more than parliamentary party; it needs to be a movement that reaches right across the disenfranchised swathes of Britain.
The entire Labour Party was founded as a mechanism for the poorer working majority to get their voices heard in the political arena, yet for some reason that original purpose has slowly been forgotten about by Labour's leaders.
The question for Labour is simple.
What policies and directions do working class people (who also happen to make the majority of the population) want to see happening in government? If that question was answered honestly, then I'm sure we'd see overwhelming support for items such as the renationalisation of utility companies and the Royal Mail.
If we truly gave people the choice, then I'm sure they'd opt in to scrap the bedroom tax, and to put an end to dirty Tory policies that attack the disabled.
If we left the British people to their own devices, I'd be taking bets on how long it takes for companies like ATOS and G4S to be voted out.
Surely that's what democracy is all about - letting the people decide? I want to see the Labour Party become a populist, mass-membership organization again.
I want to see grassroots activism being the platform for success with a newer, redefined Labour movement.
As well as all of that, I think we also need a referendum of Clause IV in Labour's constitutions - regarding the party's commitment to public ownership.
It's silly to think that such a commitment would hold the party back electorally, especially when looking at polls on the utility and energy companies.
There is a growing demand for policies that no parties are offering, therefore it is crucial that Labour fill that gap and comes to terms with the needs of ordinary British people.
In fact, it's the grassroots mass-membership that allowed post-war Labour movements to establish social democracies across northern Europe.
Specifically in British history, the Attlee government could never have taken power in 1945 had it not been for the doorstep campaigning in every single constituency across Britain.
And I'd argue the successes experienced in each of the individual Constituency Labour Parties (CLP) was not down to Attlee or the Labour NEC, but the passions of individual organizers and volunteers.
These local volunteers weren't getting paid, they were investing their own time in a movement they believed in.
Today, the number of Labour activists on the streets is much lower - can there be any other explanation other than that people have simply lost faith in the party's cause? This is why I think the next real electoral victory for Labour will come from a change in mindset within the party.
Labour needs to think of itself as much more than parliamentary party; it needs to be a movement that reaches right across the disenfranchised swathes of Britain.
The entire Labour Party was founded as a mechanism for the poorer working majority to get their voices heard in the political arena, yet for some reason that original purpose has slowly been forgotten about by Labour's leaders.
The question for Labour is simple.
What policies and directions do working class people (who also happen to make the majority of the population) want to see happening in government? If that question was answered honestly, then I'm sure we'd see overwhelming support for items such as the renationalisation of utility companies and the Royal Mail.
If we truly gave people the choice, then I'm sure they'd opt in to scrap the bedroom tax, and to put an end to dirty Tory policies that attack the disabled.
If we left the British people to their own devices, I'd be taking bets on how long it takes for companies like ATOS and G4S to be voted out.
Surely that's what democracy is all about - letting the people decide? I want to see the Labour Party become a populist, mass-membership organization again.
I want to see grassroots activism being the platform for success with a newer, redefined Labour movement.
As well as all of that, I think we also need a referendum of Clause IV in Labour's constitutions - regarding the party's commitment to public ownership.
It's silly to think that such a commitment would hold the party back electorally, especially when looking at polls on the utility and energy companies.
There is a growing demand for policies that no parties are offering, therefore it is crucial that Labour fill that gap and comes to terms with the needs of ordinary British people.
